Sale of Kline Creek horses sparks worry over their fate

After spending much of their lives working at Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago, two senior horses — Annie and Buddy — on March 18 were loaded onto a trailer, driven more than 160 miles to a draft horse auction in Indiana, and sold to a single buyer for $950.

What happened to the animals next is unknown.

Officials with the DuPage County Forest Preserve District — who formerly owned the horses — say they have no reason to believe anything bad happened to Annie, 21, and Buddy, 27.

DuPage horse enthusiasts, however, are fearing the worst.

“Kill buyers do attend horse auctions,” said Jane Muklewicz of Naperville, who defined a kill buyer as someone who purchases horses to ship them to a slaughterhouse. “I was told directly by the owner and also the manager of the Topeka (Indiana) auction that kill buyers do attend their auction.”

Speaking Tuesday to forest preserve commissioners, Muklewicz said it’s “highly probable” Annie and Buddy were purchased by a kill buyer because of their age, condition and differing breeds.

“The fact they were both bought together is extremely disturbing,” said Sue Wedryk of Wheaton.

As a result, Wedryk and other residents said they want the district to ban the sale of any of its retired horses at auction.

Forest preserve President Joseph Cantore said he’s committed to finding out what happened to Annie and Buddy.

“I want to make sure they were auctioned to someone who is going to treat them like the board intended for them to be treated,” Cantore said. “We want those horses to be treated humanely.”

The controversy comes two years after the district revised its horse adoption policy in response to concerns raised by volunteers from Danada Equestrian Center in Wheaton. But officials say those changes only applied to horses from Danada — not Kline Creek.

One thought on “Sale of Kline Creek horses sparks worry over their fate”

The payment of $950 for 2 draft horses is very telling, as it works out to be close to 25 cents/lb. Poor horses worked most of their lives for those greedy, undeserving people. This is very sad and horrific for the horses.

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